Morocco 2011: Buses Better Than Tourism
13 July 2011
Read by 2611 persons
The Spanish company Irizar saved by emerging markets including Morocco. In tourism, Thomas Cook is the latest to suffer a blow in the tourism sector.
Symptomatic of the current economic situation, without this being generalizable, the results recently published by two European companies with activities in Morocco show that the coach and bus bodywork and assembly activity (Irizar Maghreb) is currently more profitable than the tourism business (Thomas Cook).
The English tour operator has just published a profit warning on Tuesday, July 12, due in particular to the decline in activity in its traditional markets of Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. Cook's profits for 2011 are expected to be down more than 13% compared to 2010, 364 million euros this year instead of 412 million a year earlier.
Thomas Cook admits to suffering from the reluctance of French households, large consumers of travel to Tunisia and Morocco, and the contraction of the English market severely affected by the austerity measures of the Cameron government. But the British tour operator also notes in its press release the strength of the German market and the good development of its clientele in Eastern European countries.
In Madrid at the end of last week, the coachbuilder Irizar, which has an assembly plant in Temara, announced an overall increase of 20% in the first half of 2011 thanks to its sales in Mexico, China, India and Morocco in particular. At December 31, 2010, Irizar had ended the year up 33% compared to 2009. Irizar has a plant in the Spanish Basque Country and 6 plants in southern countries.
Jamal Amiar.
Published on July 13, 2011.
Posted online on July 13, 2011.
www.lavieeco.com
Symptomatic of the current economic situation, without this being generalizable, the results recently published by two European companies with activities in Morocco show that the coach and bus bodywork and assembly activity (Irizar Maghreb) is currently more profitable than the tourism business (Thomas Cook).
The English tour operator has just published a profit warning on Tuesday, July 12, due in particular to the decline in activity in its traditional markets of Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. Cook's profits for 2011 are expected to be down more than 13% compared to 2010, 364 million euros this year instead of 412 million a year earlier.
Thomas Cook admits to suffering from the reluctance of French households, large consumers of travel to Tunisia and Morocco, and the contraction of the English market severely affected by the austerity measures of the Cameron government. But the British tour operator also notes in its press release the strength of the German market and the good development of its clientele in Eastern European countries.
In Madrid at the end of last week, the coachbuilder Irizar, which has an assembly plant in Temara, announced an overall increase of 20% in the first half of 2011 thanks to its sales in Mexico, China, India and Morocco in particular. At December 31, 2010, Irizar had ended the year up 33% compared to 2009. Irizar has a plant in the Spanish Basque Country and 6 plants in southern countries.
Jamal Amiar.
Published on July 13, 2011.
Posted online on July 13, 2011.
www.lavieeco.com
